Self-adjusting and locking wrench



April 14,, 1970 E. w. F. RYDELL SELF-ADJUSTING AND LOCKING WRENCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 12, 1967 I N V15 N'TOR.

EbMl/A/D ME FY0514 III II muw l lm I w .w 1 FIE 7 April 14, 1970 E. w. F. RYDELL $ELF-ADJUSTING AND LOCKING WRENCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 12. 1967 FIE .5

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INVENTOR. z E W A MEPVDEZL Arron/v5 April 1970 E. w. F. RYDELL 3,505,915

I SELF-ADJUSTING AND LOCKING WRENCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 12. 1967 RA Z w N Y 7 m; ME M w W W D K \wmM] Jrrazzmsrs United States Patent 3,505,915 SELF-ADJUSTING AND LOCKING WRENCH Edmund W. F. Rydell, The Rydell Company, 2328 N.

2nd St., Minneapolis, Minn. 55411 Filed Dec. 12, 1967, Ser. No. 689,863 Int. Cl. B25b 7/02 U.S. Cl. 81-355 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An open end adjustable wrench having a fixed jaw on a body member, opposing movable jaw means mounted in a slide on the body member and spring tensioned to close toward the fixed jaw, and a lever pivoted to the body member and connected to the movable jaw means to move the same in an opening direction to engage a workpiece. The movable jaw means is made up of a plurality of jaws independently mounted in the slide to tilt and bind therein when pressure is transmitted from the jaw to a workpiece so as to lock the jaw means in workpiece holding position.

The invention pertains generally to wrenches which may be quickly adjusted upon a workpiece through clamping action and then which lock in adjusted position to allow high turning pressures to be exerted upon the workpiece. An example of such a wrench is found in my United States Patent No. 3,322,009, dated May 30, 1967.

An object of the invention is to provide a wrench which will automatically adjust to the size of the workpiece and lock in said adjusted position so that the wrench might be removed from and reengaged with the workpiece without readjustment.

The above mentioned and additional objects of the invention will be brought to light during the course of the following specification, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of one embodiment of my new wrench construction.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the wrench shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1 with the position of the movable jaw in closed position shown in broken lines.

FIG. 4 is a front end view of the wrench shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view through the head of the wrench similar to FIG. 3 showing the jaws locked in gripping position on a nut.

FIG. 6 is a section through the movable jaw taken on line 66 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is another section through the movable jaw taken on line 77 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal section, similar to FIG. 5, taken through a wrench head embodying a different form of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a front end view of the wrench shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a section through the movable jaw taken on line 10-10 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 8 showing the jaws locked in gripping position on a nut.

FIG. 12 is a section through the head of the wrench taken on line 1212 of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal section, similar to FIG. 5, taken through a wrench head embodying a still different form of the invention.

FIG. 14 is a front end view of the wrench shown in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 13 showing the jaws locked in gripping position on the nut.

Patented Apr. 14, 1970 ICC FIG. 16 is a section through the movable jaw taken on line 1616 of FIG. 15.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings reference characters will be used to denote like parts or structural features in the different views. The embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 will be first described. The wrench is denoted generally at 20. It has four main components here designated as a body member 21, a contact jaw 22, a control or locking jaw 23, and an operating lever 24. The body member 21 consists of an elongated handle 25 with a head 26 at one end which includes a fixed jaw 27. The body member has an elongated recess 28 which extends along the handle 25 opening through the bottom thereof as viewed in the drawings and also opening forwardly and upwardly through the head portion as denoted respectively at 29 and 30. The wrench head 26 has Spaced side walls 31 between which the recess 28 communicates with the openings 29 and 30. Jaw 27 has a flat nut gripping face 32 and the side walls 31 of the head are provided with facing parallel grooves 34 which extend perpendicular to the face 32 and jointly form a slide.

The contact jaw 22 has an inverted U-shaped jaw portion 35 having a gripping face 36 which opposes face 32 in parallel relation. This jaw has a neck plate 37 which is centered laterally with respect to portion 35 and extends between the grooves 34 in the head 26. Block portions 38 extend laterally on either side of plate 37 and are respectively disposed for sliding movement in the grooves 34. To the rear of portions 38 the member 22 integrally carries a downwardly projecting hook 40 which opens forwardly as shown. Transversely centered between the block portions 38 the member 22 is provided with a downwardly opening cylindrical socket 41. The downwardly opening slot 42 formed by the U-shaped jaw portion 35 is laterally enlarged as at 44 near the front of the jaw member. a

The control jaw 23 has a relatively narrow front plate portion 45 which is received in slot 42 of the member 22. This jaw has laterally projecting slide blocks. 46 which slidably fit in grooves 34 immedaitely below and in spaced relation to the block portions 38. Member 23 has an upwardly opening socket 47 axially aligned with socket 41 and a spiral spring 48 has its ends seated in said sockets. At its rear upper end the jaw 23 carries a rearwardly projecting tooth 49 which extends into the opening of hook 40 to loosely interlock therewith. The rearward part of plate 45 is spaced from the upper portion of jaw 22 as shown. However, it carries laterally projecting lugs 50 at its front end which project into the slot enlargement 44 of jaw 22.

Accordingly, while the forward portions of jaws 22 and 23 are loosely interconnected at 44, 50, the rear portions thereof are biased in a spreading direction by the spring 48, said spreading being limited by interengagement between hook 40 and tooth 49.

Jaw 23 is provided at its rear or inner end with a fork 51 having a rearwardly opening notch 52.

Operating lever 24 is disposed primarily in the recess 28 and has an elongated narrow design being pivoted medially to the handle 25 as by pin 54 for limited move'- ment about a transverse axis. Forward of pivot 54 the lever tapers gradually to a finger 55 which projects into the notch 52 on locking jaw 23. The rear portion of lever 24 has its lower exposed edge formed with a finger seat 56 while its opposing or upper side is cut away and provided with notch 57 which opposes a notch 58 in the handle and jointly position a sear spring 59. It will be understood that spring 59 acting through lever 24 will bias jaws 22 and 23 in an upward or closing direction.

The operation of the wrench 20 will now be explained. The spring 59 will normally retain the wrench jaws in closed position with both jaws 22 and 23 raised so that the gripping surfaces 32 and 36 are in contact and with the block portions 38 of jaw 22 projecting upwardly through opening 30 in the head, as denoted by broken lines in FIG. 3. This type of wrench is most conveniently held and operated by having the fingers extending around handle 25 with the finger engaging seat 56. The jaws may be freely opened or closed by manually squeezing or releasing handle 25 and lever 24 to the rear of pivot 54.

The spiral spring 48 yieldably holds the rear portions of jaws 22 and 23 apart to prevent their respective block portions 38 and 46 from binding in the grooves 34. When, however, the jaws are allowed to close upon a workpiece such as the hexagonal nut N, the compressive force of heavy sear spring 59 will overcome that of the smaller spring 48 and the locking or control jaw 23 will cock about a pivot formed at 50 into the position shown in FIG. 5.

It will be understood that clockwise turning force upon nut N will be transmitted against the outer portion of surface 36 on jaw 22 and accordingly to the outer end of jaw 23 through the connection of these jaws at 44, 50. The blocks 46 on the locking jaw 23 will accordingly bind firmly in grooves 34 with the upper forward and lower rearward corners of the blocks being forced into tight frictional engagement with the groove side walls.

It will be understood that with the two movable jaws connected only at their forward ends, the turning force will be transmitted to the tip of jaw 23 regardless of the size of the workpiece engaged. In other words, the turning force on even a very small nut held at the inner portion of the jaws will be transmitted to jaw 23 at the tip thereof, near portion 50, to cause the desired binding in the slide grooves.

It will also be understood that as turning pressure is exerted the contact jaw 22 will tend to tilt in the opposite direction of jaw 23, as shown in FIG. 5, so that the jaws actually bind in opposite directions for solid locking in the adjusted nut engaging condition. It is found that once adjusted and locked, as set forth above, the jaws cannot even be unlocked by lever 24. Rather the unlocking is accomplished by tapping jaw 22 against some solid object such as the workpiece.

One feature of this construction is that the jaws will not lock upon light contact. Thus, for example, when the wrench engages across the points of a workpiece it will not lock until the wrench is turned to a point where the flats are engaged.

Another embodiment of the wrench is shown in FIGS. 8 through 12. This wrench is denoted generally by the numeral 60 and is in many respects identical to Wrench 20. The body member 21 and operating lever 24 are of the same construction excepting only that a bit more material is left in the head as at 61 for a stronger construction.

The contact jaw 62 and locking jaw 63 have the same general configuration as jaws 22 and 23. Instead of the hook and tooth connection, however, the jaws are loosely interconnected by providing opposing recesses 64 in the jaw portion 35 which receive lugs 65 disposed on the plate portion 45. Also a U-shaped plate spring 66 is used between the jaws in lieu of the spiral spring to bias them apart. Finally the neck plate 37 and block portions 38 are cut away as at 67 to provide a space for a small cylindrical roller 68 disposed with its axis transverse of the head and with its front face in engagement with the front walls of grooves 34. A drilled socket in the portion 38 seats a spiral spring 69 which urges the roller downwardly.

While in this embodiment the block portion of the jaws 62 and 63 will bind in the grooves 34 to prevent slippage of the jaws during the turning of nut N, the roller 68 prohibits jaw 62 from locking in the groove. Accordingly when the workpiece is released from this form of the wrench, the movable jaws 62 and 63 will automatically close under the bias of the control lever spring 59. The

advantage of placing all of the turning force on the extended ends of the jaws is retained.

Still another form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 13 to 16. This wrench is denoted generally at and the body member 21 and operating lever 24 are identical to those used in wrench 60. The movable jaws, however, are completely ditferent from those used in the previously described wrenches.

Here the movable jaw is actually made up of three sections which for the sake of clarity will be referred to from top to bottom as the contact jaw 81, intermediate jaw 82, and the control jaw 83. The contact jaw 81 has an inverted U-shaped jaw portion 84 having a gripping face 85 which opposes face 32 in parallel relation. A web portion 86 designed to keep the workpiece out on the surface 85 connects jaw portion 84 with a block portion 87 which has a loose sliding fit in grooves 34. The intermediate jaw 82 lies in the channel of jaw 81 in flush contact therewith and extends upwardly as at 88 to connect with a block portion 89 which slides in grooves 34. The control jaw 83 is in flush contact with the underside of jaw 82 and connects with a block portion 90 disposed in the grooves 34 immediately below the block portion 89. Block portion 90 carries a fork 91 having a rearwardly opening notch 92 for receiving the forward end of lever 24.

The block portions 87, 89 and 90 are flexibly bound together by a screw 94 which extends through passageways in said portions with its lower end threaded into cylindrical anchor member 95 mounted in block 90 for limited movement on a fixed axis. At the upper end of screw 94 a coil spring 96 is disposed between the screw head and a washer 97 which bears against block 87. Accordingly, the block portions of the three jaws are loosely and flexibly tied together.

It will be understood that in this type of wrench as turning pressure is applied to nut N the pressure will be transmitted from one movable jaw to the next causing each of the block portions 87, 89, and 90 to tilt in grooves 34, thus providing six binding contact points. Accordingly, the workpiece pressure is distributed to several frictional locking points which is advantageous on relatively large wrenches where heavier pressures might be involved. Several intermediate jaws like jaw 82 may be provided to increase the number of binding points. Where more jaws are used it may be desirable for a more compact construction to decrease the thickness of said jaws and the block portions thereof.

A system of this type with a laminated type movable jaw will provide an effective locking of said jaw even on relatively slippery surfaces such as where the slide grooves are heavily lubricated.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in the structure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Having now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention, what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

I claim:

1. In a wrench having a head at one end of an elongated handle, said head including an integral jaw having a gripping surface and a slide disposed perpendicular to said surface, movable jaw means mounted in the slide for movement toward and away from the integral jaw, a control lever pivoted medially to the handle and having one end flexibly connected to the movable jaw means, spring means acting between the other end of the lever and handle to urge the movable jaw means in a closing direction toward the fixed jaw, and said movable jaw means comprising at least two separate jaws each having block portions fitting in the slide to bind therein against sliding movement as pressure is applied to the jaw means in a direction away from the integral jaw.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said separate jaws are flexibly interconnected against separating movement allowing independent tilting thereof when said pressure is applied.

3. The subject matter of claim 2 wherein said jaws have pressure engagement against each other at a point remote from the block portions thereof.

4. The subject matter of claim 3 wherein a spring means is interposed between said separate jaws to yieldably urge the block portions thereof in a separating direction.

5. The subject matter of claim 2 wherein the movable jaw remote from the integral jaw has a fork defining a rearwardly opening notch, said one end of the control lever engaging in said notch.

6. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said movable jaw means comprises at least three 'of said separate jaws.

7. The'subject matter of claim 6 wherein said jaws have pressure engagement against one another in the areas opposing the integral jaw and being flexibly interconnected to limit separating movement thereof but permit independent tilting of the jaws so that the block portion of each jaw binds in the slide.

'8. In a wrench:

(a) a wrench body having a head at one end of an elongated handle,

(b) an integral jaw on the head,

(c) the head having walls spaced transversely of the handle,

(d) said walls having parallel grooves therein opening toward each other to form a slide,

(e) a contact jaw having a work engaging portion facing the integral jaw and having laterally extending block portions slidably disposed in said grooves,

(f) a control jaw in backing engagement with the work engaging portion of the contact jaw and having laterally extending block portions slidably disposed in said grooves,

(g) all of said block portions adapted to bind in the grooves when tilted therein,

(h) means flexibly interconnecting the contact jaw and control jaw,

(i) the body having an elongated recess extending along the handle and opening endwise between said walls and sidewise through said one side of the handle,

(j) an elongated lever disposed in and extending along said recess and being pivoted at a medial point to said handle on an axis perpendicular to the slide,

(k) means providing a flexible connection between the control jaw and one end of the lever,

(1) spring means positioned between the lever and handle to bias the lever in a direction to move said control jaw toward the integral jaw, and

(m) the other end of the lever protruding through said sidewise opening for manual engagement to move the lever against said spring means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,322,009 5/1967 Rydell 81359 LESTER M. SWINGLE, Primary Examiner R. M. PARKER, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 81129 

